In numerous fields such as, for example, the electronic design automation (EDA) industry, vendors will often supply proprietary information to their customers. In attempt to keep the information proprietary, the vendors will often request that the customer sign a non-disclosure agreement, or other type of document intended to protect the vendor's proprietary information. Unfortunately, such paper agreements do not always provide the level of security desired by the vendor.
In another attempt to protect proprietary information, vendors often use license management software. Such license management software is commercially available to vendors (e.g. FLEXlm software available from GLOBEtrotter Software of Campbell, Calif.). License management software typically allows the vendor to control, for example, the allowed duration of use of the proprietary information, the specific use of the proprietary information, the number of users allowed to access the proprietary information, and the like. However, regulation of the proprietary information by such license management software is not entirely secure. That is, by removing a call to such license management software, it is possible to "overide" the vendor's intent for access to the proprietary information to be controlled by the license management software. Additionally, even when such a call to license management software in encrypted, an unscrupulous user may still remove the call, thereby gaining unauthorized access to or use of the proprietary information.
Thus, a need exists for a method to securely protect proprietary information. A further need exists to provide such secure protection while still allowing the proprietary information to be dispersed to licensed or otherwise entitled parties.